Paris aims to cool down the city

DW (English)

As temperatures rise around the globe, the French capital is seeking ways to beat the heat. Ideas include more greenery and fewer cars.

Transcript

00:00 Paris, the city of love, has long been a tourist's dream.

00:07 But despite its air of romance, on hot summer days it can feel hard to breathe.

00:15 Concrete roads and buildings turn the French capital into an urban heat island.

00:21 Paris has warmed up by 2.3 degrees Celsius on average since 1885, compared to 1.7 degrees

00:28 in the rest of France, according to a recent study.

00:31 And so the town hall is now investing tens of millions of euros to help cool down the

00:36 city.

00:37 Bonjour.

00:38 Enchanté, les alloués.

00:39 So this is a map of Paris.

00:43 Tell me, what is so specific about this city?

00:50 This is a historic city built for a moderate climate and one of the most densely built

00:55 cities in the world.

00:57 That's why it's like an oven, far more so than places spread out over a large area.

01:02 The Canal Saint-Martin here is already open for swimming.

01:06 After next year's Olympic Games, we plan to open three bathing areas on the Seine River.

01:11 One plan is to replace concrete with earth that can soak up rainwater and cool down the

01:16 air.

01:17 We'll also insulate public buildings.

01:26 City squares have already gone green, like the Place de la Nation.

01:29 Or this roundabout in the south of Paris, which is being transformed into an urban forest,

01:35 since trees are also key to cooling down the city.

01:39 And the River Seine will not only become an open-air swimming pool, it's already making

01:45 a cooling contribution.

01:48 This eco-friendly cooling system is called "Fraîcheur de Paris", a network of underground

01:53 water pipes that is connected to water tube systems in over 700 buildings across the city.

02:00 We pay a visit to one of its main plants, the Central Canada.

02:05 These pumps push ice-cold water through the system.

02:08 The water is cooled by refrigeration units which heat up in the process.

02:12 That heat is dissipated into the Seine.

02:15 Its water flows through a secondary circuit.

02:18 This system consumes half as much electricity as a conventional air conditioning unit.

02:25 What's more, that electricity comes entirely from renewable energy, mainly from solar panels.

02:32 Today the network has 90 kilometres of pipes, and the company plans to triple that over

02:37 the next two decades.

02:39 Paris was the first city in Europe to adopt such an underground cooling network, and now

02:45 other municipalities are looking to get on board.

02:50 Many city officials have come to visit us, especially from northern Europe, to see how

02:54 such a system works.

02:56 It might seem a bit paradoxical, since it's not as hot in the north.

03:03 But southern cities have been dealing with the heat for a while, and have been adapting

03:08 to it.

03:13 Fresher de Paris is already helping to cool places like the Louvre Museum and Paris Town

03:19 Hall.

03:20 But air conditioning systems that use river water can't be endlessly extended, says Morgane

03:25 Colombert, a French expert on urban climate adaptation.

03:32 Systems like the Fresher de Paris warm up the river water, and that's only safe up

03:36 to a certain threshold, to protect local biodiversity.

03:43 So these systems can't cool down an entire city.

03:47 We have to choose the buildings we'll cool with them.

03:55 In the future, Fresher de Paris will also be linked to schools.

03:59 Some of them are already enjoying the benefits of greener streets and pedestrian zones.

04:04 And across the city, cars are increasingly sharing the streets with bicycles.

04:11 You can already cycle almost all over Paris on large bike highways like this one.

04:17 And the city will add another 55 kilometres of bike bouloirs over the next three years.

04:25 But not everybody is happy with the bicycle boom, which is leading to more traffic jams

04:30 in busy areas.

04:32 That's why planners need to take the needs of critics and local communities seriously.

04:38 We need to make sure our plans are accepted, involve local people and explain the initiatives.

04:43 Planners often focus on the technological side of climate adaptation.

04:47 But the human factor is also important.

04:52 Other plans are less controversial, like this new installation that provides shade when

04:57 the sun is high to people in a lower-income neighbourhood in the north of Paris.

05:03 It can be up to 10 degrees cooler under the roof, and we've installed a new spray fountain

05:10 over there.

05:11 You just need to push this button and it sprays water for about 20 seconds.

05:16 You feel the water, right?

05:21 We're installing 24 roofs like this and 73 spray fountains across Paris.

05:27 They'll help us get through the summer, on top of our existing heat measures.

05:32 Our heat plan includes regular checking in on vulnerable people and offering spaces,

05:37 such as in town halls, where they can cool off.

05:41 Measures like these will become even more important in the future if summers in Paris

05:46 continue to heat up.

05:48 I must say, I quite like the idea of Paris cooling down even further with more shade,

05:56 more spray fountains and more bike lanes.

05:59 That way the city will certainly stay enjoyable, even with temperatures continuing to go up.

06:06 [sound of jet engine]

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